The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Control modules are implemented in a variety of systems to process data and generate control signals. Control modules are increasingly using digital processors in cars, trucks, aircrafts and other vehicles to control safety-critical functions such as braking and engine torque output. A primary processor generates control signals based on signals received from various sensors and other devices that monitor operating characteristics such as engine speed, temperature, pressure, and gear ratio. The primary processor processes signal information using an arithmetic logic unit (ALU). If a control signal becomes corrupted as a result of a defective ALU, the primary processor may command the system to take an incorrect action.
Corrupted control signals can result from other failures and/or errors associated with the primary processor and/or other components of the control module. The failures and/or errors may include random access memory (RAM) hardware failures, RAM data storage corruption, read-only memory (ROM) faults, compiler errors and/or program counter errors. Conventional systems often use a secondary processor included in the control module to detect faults in the primary processor. The secondary processor uses an ALU to perform its fault detection that is independent from the ALU used by the primary processor.